The bottom paint arrived today and the temperature climbed to 11 Celsius so it is time to get the boat turned over, the skeg fitted and the bottom paint done. The first part of this was to remove all the things I want to also varnish in the next few days as well as clean out everything not fastened down so that when the boat is turned over nothing falls out. The workshop was cleared a little as the trailer has to come out and I went out into the orchard and retrieved three old hay bales upon which Naiad will rest whilst she is the wrong way up.

So, here we go. The trick this time is to make sure that nothing crunches on the workshop floor and breaks.

Clear of the trailer which was removed and parked on the hardstanding outside.

I went very carefully trying to ensure that if anything went wrong Naiad would not be damaged.

Mainly this just meant not lifting her too high off the ground.

With all the extra weight in the hull I was even more careful than the first time she was inverted.

She's nearly at the tipping point and here I stopped and put the hay bales in approximately the correct positions and then asked Tina to give me a hand with the next bit. We lifted Naiad off the ground a bit further and the manually tipped her over the balance point and then let her down carefully so that she lay against the strops on the otters side. It was easy after that.

My lovely assistant and Naiad, inverted on the bales of hay.

I did a little bit of preparation work on the keel where the skeg will go and then rested a 4" high piece of wood on the hull at the stern and used a straight piece of wood to get an idea of how bit the skeg will be and the shape. I foresee a template being made.

Tomorrow, even though it is shopping day, I must complete the preparation work and get the skeg laminated and fitted. Thursday's task will be taping the waterline and sanding the underwater part of the boat, Friday will be applying the tie coat and Saturday will see the bottom paint put on. Varnishing will be done whenever possible!

I hope.

The Met Office is forecasting warmish weather at least until Monday, so I need to get a move on since it will possibly be getting cooler again after that apparently. Unsettled is the word used along with "There will be bands of rain moving east, interspersed with brief colder, brighter and showery interludes with a risk of snow in the north".